Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is Google Apps?
Google Apps are powerful, easy-to-use tools, facilitating collaboration via email, instant messaging, and voice calls. In addition, you can create and share documents, spreadsheets, calendar events, and access it all from one place. You can also login individually to every component, via corresponding LOGIN tab.
Google Apps is a bridge between our organization and Google products. On one side, we have communication and collaboration needs for our school; and on the other side, there are successful, innovative, online Google products. Google Apps allows us to embrace the strengths of both sides.
2. Why are we using Google Apps?
The main reason is to facilitate a collaborative environment within a solid and dynamic platform, to bring together essential communication tools and applications, and improve productivity and collaboration. We want to focus on student needs by adding value to the communication experience while Google focuses on building excellent products, maintaining the feature set, and innovating our communication options for tomorrow.
Our goal is to offer you a reliable, practical, secure, feature-rich webmail environment. We can focus on the core values of our school, such as student relationships, and let Google leverage its extensive operational experience with security and privacy.
3. How do I get started?
You can access Google Apps in two different ways:
- Google Apps via CAU Web Site
- For Miami Campus: http://mia.albizu.edu (Click SunMail)
- For Puerto Rico Campus: http://sju.albizu.edu (Click SunMail)
- Google Apps via Direct Access to SUNMAIL : http://sunmail.albizu.edu
If you want to visit Google Apps services directly, bookmark the start page of corresponding component (such as SunMail, Calendar, Docs, etc) You can also access the different Google Apps components separately, if you wish. For this, login to the specific Google component via the LOGIN tab located in the left menu.
4. What options do I have for accessing email?
The primary option is CAU’s SUNMAIL (Google’s Gmail) - http://sunmail.albizu.edu
SunMail is packed with exciting features and integrated with other Google services. From within SunMail, you can chat with your contacts, create filters to organize your inbox before new mail arrives, schedule calendar events, map addresses in your messages, and many more exciting features.
The Information Technology team is currently testing other alternative options for you to connect to SunMail such as POP3 and Mobile. You will be notified very shortly about these technologies as soon as they are fully tested.
5. I do not know my credentials (username, password) for accessing Google Apps (SunMail)
The naming convention differs if you are student or faculty.
> If you are a student, your SunMail account follows the below naming convention:
Username:
First letter of your name, concatenated with your last name, concatenated with last three digits of your student ID. For instance, John Doe; Student ID # 12345 = jdoe345
Password:
Initially, accounts are created by concatenating your first-name with your year of birth. For instance, if John Doe was born on 1964, his initial password will be john1964.
> If you are an Adjunct Faculty, your SunMail account follows the below naming convention:
Username:
First letter of your name concatenated with your last name. For instance, John Doe = jdoe.
Password:
If you are an Adjunct Faculty, your password is created by concatenating your first-name with your year of birth. For instance, if John Doe was born on 1964, his initial password will be john1964.
> If you are Full-Time Faculty, you can use your CAU Outlook credentials.
NOTE:
Users MUST change the initial password immediately. It is user's responsibility to change their password after initial account creation. Refer to item # 7.
6. I forgot my credentials to access Google Apps
Please refer to item #5 to familiarize yourself with existing naming convention.
If you just forgot your password, please contact the CAU Information Technology department to have it reset:
- Miami Campus – (305) 593-1223 / Ext 311
- Puerto Rico Campus – (787) 725-6500 / Ext. 1412
7. How do I change my password?
You need to change your password right after your account has been created. Subsequently, you are encouraged to change your password as frequent as you desire. To do so, you must visit SUNMAIL main page (http://sunmail.albizu.edu) and LOGIN to SUNMAIL. In the authentication page (where it prompts you for credentials), you have an option for "Password Management". Please note that you must select the corresponding Campus where you belong.
The Password Management Module has additional options for your convenience. For example, the ENROLL option is designed to identify you in the event you forget your password. You must ENROLL on this service if you feel you may need it in the future.
8. How are the Google services linked together?
You have one username for all services in the Google Apps package. Once you log in to one service, you can easily access all others. Within your email account, you can chat with your contacts. You'll receive invitations for calendar events and to collaborate on documents and spreadsheets.
9. What do I need to know about documents and spreadsheets?
Documents are managed via a web-based word processing and spreadsheet application. It can help us collaborate on projects from anywhere. Your documents are stored online. You and anyone you invite to collaborate can access the document from any internet-connected computer, and make changes simultaneously. Multiple people can make changes at once, and everyone's changes show in real-time. You can get started right away by creating a new document or by uploading a file from your computer.
Since the products are integrated, you can use your email account Contacts list to invite people to view or edit your documents.
More Tips:
Revision history -- Individual edits are kept so you can see who made changes and revert back, if necessary.
Search -- Just like the rest of Google products, you can harness the power of Google search to look for a document you haven't edited in months.
Security and privacy -- You choose who sees your document. Other users can only access your document or spreadsheet if you add them to the list of collaborators or viewers, or if you decide to publish the document.
Get more resources: http://docs.google.com/
10. What do I get with VIDEO CHAT?
Instant Messaging System integrated in the Gmail interface. Live contact with your classmates, teachers, friends.You can have free voice calls, voicemail for when your contacts are offline, and file transfers while chatting. The person on the other end can be anywhere in the world as long as he or she is connected to the Google network.
11. Where can I find more information for Google Apps?
We have put together a complete set of tools to help you master Google Apps. Please visit the TUTORIAL & TRAINING sections on the left-menu of the SUNMAIL page.
Google Help Center for users: http://www.google.com/support/a/users
Through Google Help Center you can find Frequently Asked Questions (updated daily by product experts), tutorial, videos of key features, user interface screenshots, active discussion groups, and many, many more.
Copyright © 2009 Carlos Albizu University.
